corporate division

A corporate division, also known as a business division, is a discrete part of a company that may operate under the same name and legal responsibility or as a separate corporate and legal entity under another business name.

Corporations often separate divisions along product or service lines. Sometimes acquired companies remain as separate divisions. For example, when HP acquired Compaq, it maintained that well-known brand along with its own HP printing, Desktop, sever and Hand-held divisions.

Like many companies, Microsoft has undergone a number of reorganizations. As of November 2013, the company has five main divisions: Microsoft Operating Systems Engineering Group, Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise Engineering Group, Microsoft Applications and Services Group, Microsoft Devices and Studios Group and Microsoft Dynamics.